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New “Big Ten Channel” will prohibit alcohol advertising
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) reports that the Big Ten conference and Fox Cable Networks are starting a new national sports network, the Big Ten Channel, on which all alcohol advertising will be prohibited. Individually, many Big Ten member universities had already committed to eliminating alcohol advertising on their televised college sports. CSPI’s Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV has praised the Big Ten and Fox for the new policy, which it hopes will encourage other conferences and the NCAA to follow suit. George Hacker of CSPI’s Alcohol Policies Project states ‘Other conferences and the NCAA itself should similarly distance themselves from alcohol marketers’ desires to tap underage audiences. It’s hard to see how university-sanctioned beer ads on sportscasts mesh with increasingly necessary campus campaigns to prevent and reduce underage and excessive student drinking.’ More information is available on the Big Ten Web site or in a CSPI news release.

New Study Shows a Tidal Wave of Underage Drinking CostsA newly published study shows that underage drinking costs America nearly $62 billion a year. And yet, public attention remains focused on preventing youth drug use, not alcohol use.No clear winner in study of alcohol interventionsA review of studies on eight different types of addiction interventions, including 12-step based programs, found no clear evidence that one treatment was better than the others. Italian researchers said that all of the treatment approaches were shown to reduce alcohol intake, promote and maintain abstinence, and improve quality of life. “All interventions without distinction proved to alleviate the severity of dependence,” said researcher Marica Ferri, who noted the importance of enlisting “the active collaboration of patients or clients … to identify the best intervention for that specific person.” In addition to AA and other 12-step programs, the researchers reviewed studies on motivational enhancement therapy, cognitive-behavioral coping-skills training, and relapse-prevention therapy.Curriculum Keeps College Students SoberTexas Tech University’s Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery has developed and is distributing the nation’s first curriculum to establish recovery communities on college campuses. The move comes as higher education increasingly relies on peer-based recovery programs to battle student substance abuse and attrition rates. The curriculum, modeled after the pioneering program at Texas Tech, lays out basic steps for schools to develop and establish recovery communities with offerings including support groups, twelve-step programs, mentoring and other activities.Curriculum Keeps College Students SoberTexas Tech University’s Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery has developed and is distributing the nation’s first curriculum to establish recovery communities on college campuses. The move comes as higher education increasingly relies on peer-based recovery programs to battle student substance abuse and attrition rates. The curriculum, modeled after the pioneering program at Texas Tech, lays out basic steps for schools to develop and establish recovery communities with offerings including support groups, twelve-step programs, mentoring and other activities.The Grim Neurology of Teenage DrinkingThe costs of early heavy drinking, experts say, appear to extend far beyond the time that drinking takes away from doing homework, dating, acquiring social skills, and the related tasks of growing up. Mounting research suggests that alcohol causes more damage to the developing brains of teenagers than was previously thought, injuring them significantly more than it does adult brains. The findings, though preliminary, have demolished the assumption that people can drink heavily for years before causing themselves significant neurological injury. And the research even suggests that early heavy drinking may undermine the precise neurological capacities needed to protect oneself from alcoholism.Homeless Alcoholics Receive a Permanent Place to Live, and DrinkLast year, King County created a list of 200 “chronic public inebriates” in the Seattle region who had cost the most to round up and care for. Seventy-five were offered permanent homes in a new apartment building. Each had been a street drunk for several years and had failed at least six efforts at sobriety. In a controversial acknowledgment of their addiction, the residents 70 men and 5 women can drink in their rooms. They do not have to promise to drink less, attend Alcoholics Anonymous or go to church.Ann R., AlcoholicFormer Gov. Ann Richards of Texas will be remembered for her wit, her one-liners and especially for the keynote speech at the 1988 Democratic Convention, which was, in retrospect, the high point in the party’s dismal campaign for the presidency that year. To intrigued television viewers nationwide, Ms. Richards, with her big hair and big attitude, epitomized the kind of formidable woman that is a hallmark of the Lone Star State. She leavened a plain-spoken manner with wisecracks. But her political career eclipsed what Ms. Richards called “one of the great, great stories” of her life: her recovery from alcoholism and her nearly 26 years of sobriety. That triumph deserves to be more than a line in her obituary.Oregon child abuse climbs after cuts to substance abuse programsChild abuse in Oregon has increased dramatically over the last two years, since the state made deep cutbacks in its drug, alcohol and methamphetamine treatment programs.In Tim Ryans family, he is the addictUSA TODAY and HBO are collaborating on a special report on drug and alcohol addiction. This story is part of that project, which will include future reports in USA TODAY and a two-hour HBO public service special scheduled to air in March 2007. We will explore the latest research on addiction, how addiction affects lives and communities, and cutting-edge treatments.How Bill Wilson Invented Alcoholics AnonymousHow Bill Wilson Invented Alcoholics Anonymous